Greater New Orleans

Officer Carolyn Dalton, a 16-year veteran of the New Orleans Police Department, has been suspended and charged with malfeasance in office after investigators determined she used an official police database to look up a woman's address for personal reasons, according to a department news release.
(NOPD yearbook)

A New Orleans police officer has been suspended and charged with malfeasance in office after investigators determined she used an official police database to look up a woman's address for personal reasons, according to a department news release.

Internal investigators found that Officer Carolyn Dalton, a 16-year veteran, used the computer in her patrol car to look up the home and business addresses of a woman who was dating a man Dalton was also dating. Dalton used the database without having been assigned an investigation that would require such a search, police spokeswoman Remi Braden said.

She is also accused of going to the woman's Chalmette home, following her around in her car, demanding she stop dating the man and threatening she would "get her," Braden said, noting Dalton is believed to have used profanity.

The woman filed a complaint with the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office on Jan. 8, 2013, and the NOPD's Public Integrity Bureau reassigned Dalton to desk duty that day. The woman secured a restraining order against Dalton in St. Bernard Parish.

Dalton declined to provide a statement April 23 during the department's internal criminal investigation, police said. She was read her Miranda rights but not booked, records show. The investigation at that point was handed over to the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office, police said.

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office notified the Public Integrity Bureau on Jan. 6 that it had determined Dalton violated state law by using the mobile computer system for unofficial business. The office charged Dalton Jan. 16 in a bill of information for malfeasance in office, a felony.

Public Integrity Bureau Chief Arlinda Westbrook said in an interview Friday officers chose not to book Dalton immediately in April because investigators were consulting with federal and state prosecutors to make sure charges "would stick," and did not want to "barrel in" only to end up with a weak case.

"My goal is to have a larger hammer and make sure if I really have a criminal here or somebody who has serious issues that I, on top of terminate them, I put them away and for a long time, if I can," Westbrook said.

Criminal District Court Judge Benedict Willard set Dalton's arraignment for Thursday (Jan. 30), but records show she did not attend, so it was re-set for Feb. 13.

Westbrook placed Dalton on emergency suspension without pay Thursday. Dalton was most recently assigned to the NOPD's 3rd District, which covers Gentilly, Lakeview, Lakeshore and parts of Mid-City.

Dalton's attorney, Eric Hessler, of the Police Association of New Orleans, said the St. Bernard Sheriff's Office investigated the matter and did not find sufficient evidence of a crime to arrest her. "I don't know if they didn't find (the woman) credible, or what happened," he said.

Hessler said he could not comment further because he was not sure what prosecutors are alleging Dalton has done. He said Dalton's bill of information contained no details on the allegations other than the malfeasance in office charge and the date the crime was believed to have been committed.

"It's supposed to give you enough notice on what you're being held accountable for," Hessler said. "It can't just say 'armed robbery' it has to say with a gun or knife. If it's theft, you have to say the amount. This says literally nothing. ... I don't feel comfortable commenting until I know what the DA's Office is actually alleging."

NOTE: This story has been updated to include comments from PIB Chief Westbrook.